For 35 years, the women of SisterSpace have converged for a weekend of sisterly fellowship, and supporters will come together later this month for a taste of the upcoming anniversary festival.
SisterSpace of the Delaware Valley will host “Lavender Menace,” a fundraising tea dance from 5-9 p.m. March 31 at ICandy, 254 S. 12th St., to support the 35th SisterSpace Weekend, Sept. 7-9 at Camp Ramblewood in Maryland.
The outdoor festival event was launched in 1977 in the Pocono Mountains as an outlet for women to learn self-defense and, over the years, it took on an expanded mission and look.
“It was created to fill the basic need for women to protect themselves in their lives. It started at a time where it wasn’t really OK to be out and when women were more spread out and not as much a part of a community,” said Jordan Pascucci, SisterSpace president. “But from that, it grew into something much, much bigger because it was clear that this was fulfilling a need in women’s communities, especially the lesbian community, for women to have a place to be themselves among other women.”
Art, music and entertainment became mainstays of the festival, as well as ample opportunities for community-building, discussions and socialization.
Among the array of activities at the 35th festival will be a stage for emerging artists to supplement its popular main-stage entertainment and a bevy of workshops on politics, health and wellness and life skills.
Organizers are reaching out to participants who haven’t attended in a number of years to help give the anniversary weekend a retrospective feel that fuses both the past and future of the festival.
In its heyday, the festival attracted thousands and, while it has since moved to the smaller Maryland locale with several hundred women turning out each year, Pascucci said the motivation behind the weekend is just as relevant as it was in its inception.
“Festival culture and women’s centers aren’t as popular as they were in the ’70s or ’80s, but women still want to have that connection with other women,” she said. “People who live in cities may have more places to go out in the community than others, but no matter where you live, not many people get to experience an all-women space like this. The women who are part of SisterSpace get so much support and inspiration from the other women.”
That support is not limited by age or other barriers, Pascucci said.
After its 30th anniversary weekend, SisterSpace launched a committee to explore opportunities for intergenerational communication, as the festival draws campers from ages 12-90.
“There were women sitting around talking at the 30th and they just weren’t understanding one another because of the words being used,” Pascucci said. “The older women didn’t understand how the younger women were using words like ‘queer’ and ‘soft butch,’ and the younger women didn’t understand some of the words the older women were using. So out of that conversation we really have started an interesting dialogue and [have] done events aimed at getting women of different generations to connect, and not just as mentors or peers but as a real learning experience for women at all ends of the age spectrum.”
SisterSpace also attracts women from a range of locations — primarily from the Boston-Washington, D.C., corridor, although some come from the West Coast and other nations — and from different races and socioeconomic statuses.
The weekend is supported entirely by women volunteers — from the food to the trash collection — and donations from some registrants go to support the participation of other women who would otherwise be unable to afford to attend.
Proceeds from the upcoming ICandy event will be used to bring several new speakers and campers to the festival.
It will also be valuable in introducing a new generation of women to SisterSpace, and reintroducing longtime supporters to one another.
“We want to keep the momentum going year-round,” Pascucci said. “The saddest thing is walking away from SisterSpace on the Sunday afternoon and going back to the real world. You want so many times during the year to reconnect to this community, so we’re hoping to create more opportunities like this for women to get together throughout the year and to help new women learn about SisterSpace. Sometimes if people hear ‘camping’ or ‘festival,’ they might not know what they’re getting into, so the best way to learn is to meet the women who’ve been going for years.”
For more information, visit www.sisterspace.org.
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].